39 min

Parenting Trends Throughout History: We’ve always done it wrong … and also right ParentData with Emily Oster

    • Parenting

As a parent, it’s extremely easy to get very focused on “doing it right.” Which means, usually, doing what is considered “right” in your particular time and cultural context. And sometimes, amid this pressure, we need a little perspective. Human history is long, and what is considered right has changed a lot.

Today on ParentData, we’re joined by author Jennifer Traig, who offers this perspective in spades. Her book “Act Natural: A Cultural History of Misadventures in Parenting” is a history of parenting (or at least child-rearing) from ancient Rome to Puritan New England to Dr. Spock. We’ve done it a lot of ways and we’re all still here…so we must be doing something right.

Subscribe to ParentData.org for free access to new articles every week on data-driven pregnancy and parenting.

As a parent, it’s extremely easy to get very focused on “doing it right.” Which means, usually, doing what is considered “right” in your particular time and cultural context. And sometimes, amid this pressure, we need a little perspective. Human history is long, and what is considered right has changed a lot.

Today on ParentData, we’re joined by author Jennifer Traig, who offers this perspective in spades. Her book “Act Natural: A Cultural History of Misadventures in Parenting” is a history of parenting (or at least child-rearing) from ancient Rome to Puritan New England to Dr. Spock. We’ve done it a lot of ways and we’re all still here…so we must be doing something right.

Subscribe to ParentData.org for free access to new articles every week on data-driven pregnancy and parenting.

39 min